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LETTER: Opposes widening parkway

By Jeanine Gates

Feb 12 2013 9:03 am Feb 12 11:39 am

Dislikes DOT parkway plan

As an observer at Thursday’s meeting regarding the widening of the Hitchcock Parkway, I was, once again, amazed how politicians work. The representatives of the S.C. Department of Transportation assured us that they had listened to those present at the previous meeting and that they had read all the forms they had asked us to fill out. The result was that they had understood that 75 percent of those in Aiken were against the widening of the Hitchcock Parkway to four lanes. A promise was made to re-design the plans to satisfy our wishes. Ten percent of the people wanted bicycles and walking paths, so they have to be made happy, too. In order to show us how understanding they were, they promised us to show the new plans in a few months before they would go ahead with the construction. So far, so good.

However, in order to obtain the green light for the funding from the S.C. State of Transportation Infrastructure Bank to receive the $9.5 million for this project, the road will have to widened to four lanes.

Did those officials really think that we are so stupid that we did not catch this? I consider that an insult. Taking out a few bushes from the middle is not going to satisfy us.

South Carolina has a very bad record because of bad drivers. My car insurance premium goes up every year, not because I am a bad driver, but because of the other bad drivers. Do we want more accidents? Don’t make this a race track.

A solution would be to leave the parkway as it is. Make the whole stretch one speed limit and make more left and right turn lanes. Problem solved and it will cost the tax payers a lot less money.

Jeanine Gates

Aiken

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